Tuesday July 6th, 2004
We got our 6:30 AM wake-up call, and I put it on speaker so everyone could hear Mickey tell us it's time to start our day. My mom thought it was a live person speaking, and she said "thank you, Mickey", but the kids told her it was a recording. I told them not to spoil the magic for gramma, she's like a 60 y.o. child, and bless her heart, she enjoys every minute of it.
We planned to be at Magic Kingdom at the 9 AM opening to see the opening show, which we'd never seen before. But by the time we got out of bed, showered, and dressed, I knew we weren't going to make it. Mom and Jesse went down to get her a cup of coffee, and she ended up buying us all re-fillable cups. Chad and I met them at the Mara, and since I was the only one carrying a backpack and I didn't want to carry 4 cups, I made the mistake of asking Chad to run them back to the room. By the time he got down to the bus stop where we were waiting, the bus left, and I knew it was the last bus that would get us to the MK opening on time. But so what, I'm in Disney World!!
The next bus came in less than 15 minutes, and in 20 minutes, we were at MK.
I was surprised that the security people really looked into the backpack, poking arouind with a stick-thing. Mom had a little fanny-pack on, and they asked her to open it. It was fine, I didn't mind at all, just surprised. When we were there 2 years ago, security just glanced in the packs and let us through.
We walked in and enjoyed Main Street. My kids are like me, taking it all in, every scent and sight, sitting on every bench and going into every store. I knew we were wasting precious Fast Pass time, but this meandering down Main Street was so special, it just couldn't be rushed. I was dying to get a balloon, but I knew balloons weren't allowed in AKL, so I planned on getting one later when we moved over to the Contemporary.
For breakfast we had fudge and huge chocolate chip cookies from the confectioners store. Hey, it's vacation!
When we saw the castle, I said, "look, ma," and she was awestruck. "It's really real," she said. Chad and Jesse laughed
We made our way to Tomorrowland, and got fast passes for Space Mountain. At 10 AM, our return time was 11:00-12:00. We walked on Buzz Lightyear and had a blast (get it?...blast?...LOL!)We could have walked right on again, but went to the Tomorrowland People Mover Wedway, what's it called now? It was a nice ride, giving mom a chance to see so much of MK from above. She doesn't do most rides, so this was a treat for her. This was also special for me and Jesse, because we rode this many times in a row on an E-night in 2002 when DH and Chad did the big rides. It's a warm memory for the two of us.
There weren't many people in the park on this Tuesday morning. We went on Carousel of Progress, and we all loved it. It was time for Space Mountain. Mom found a shady area by the restrooms to wait for us. After, Chad took her fast pass and went on again while we looked around the gift shop. We spent $12 in freeze-dried astronaut ice cream!
Lunch was at Cosmic Ray's, and we watched the corny Sonny Eclipse while we ate chicken sandwiches and fries for a total of $23 and change. We spent a long time there, enjoying the airconditioning. We knew we'd be back to MK, so we decided to head back to AKL for a rest, since we had a 6 PM for Mama Melrose Fantasmic Dinner Package. By then, it was around 1:30.
On the way out, we saw the talking trash can! We'd never seen this before, and it was a hoot! The thing moved around and commented on what we were wearing, and other silly fun things. My mom asked it what would happen if she put trash in it, and it heard her. It made fun of the way she said "trash", and said Where are YOU from, Brooklyn?" Yes! It was hard to leave especially when Jesse got into it, trying to find trash to put into it.
When we passed the Stitch thing being built, we did hear Stitch laughing inside. Disney is so creative.
We bused back to AKL, flopped on the beds, and snoozed. AKL is so beautiful, and I hoped for some free time to sit in the lobby and lounge areas just to be in the soothing atmosphere.
Up at 4, and the kids went down with our mugs for lemonade. We hung out on the balcony taking pics, and then put on fresh clothes. Off to MGM.
The bus was right there when we got down. We always took the shortcut through Zawadi shop. 15 minutes later, we were there. We knew mama Melrose was on the other side of MGM, so strolled in that direction. There was no time to rides, but Chad ran and there were still FPs available for 8 pm for Rockin Rollercoaster. We took pics with Alice, Cruella, Maleficent, Gepetto, and the green army men from Buzz.
We got to Mama Melrose at 5:50, and they seated us right away. It was a nice atmosphere. Many walk-ins were waiting for tables. For the package, we had a specific menu from which to order. Appetizer, salad, entre, and dessert. We has the caesar salad, cheese flat bread, steak, fish, and veal. The steak tasted like it had been marinated in wine for days, it was so strong! Just by the smell of it I was tipsy! We were stuffed, and when the desserts came, spumoti, gelato, tiramisu, and cheesecake, we were ready to sit back and not even get up and go to Fantasmic. Everything tasted so good, and the service was fine. I must say that this place has great tasting water, twice-filtered, the CM said. The bill came to more than $80. We were given a voucher for Fantasmic and told where the special entrance was.
We went over to Rockin Rollercoaster, and went on even though we were taking a chance with our full stomachs. Mom waited in the gift shop. The ride was fun. There wasn't enough time to use mom's FP, so Chad gave it to a teenage kid, who appreciated it very much.
We got to the "secret" entrance to Fantasmic. There were people there without vouchers trying to get in. The CM was having a hard time, but she opened the gate just enough for the 4 of us to get in. It was a long walk up a hill to the seats, but when we got there, 15 minutes before the show, we were so grateful we had the vouchers. It was packed, with more people coming in by the second. We sat on the right side, third row. The "wave" had begun, so we got into that. Then Fantasmic. It was fantastic, awesome, exciting. The side seats were fine, no problem seeing anything. FDP was so worth it for us.
After, we went out the back way, and it took so much less time than it would have if we were in regular seating. We bought some bottled water for $5 for 2 bottles and headed out of MGM. We'd hardly done any rides, but we had the week ahead of us.
Bus back to AKL was there waiting. We always had a seat. We didn't get any funny drivers yet, but knew we would, eventually.
Back to AKL and the long walk to our room. We took our time and said hello to people who we passed along the way. When we got in, we were turned down again. And there were T-shirst with DISNEY on them laid out on the beds! Everyone was thrilled, except me because I was the sneaky one arranging all this LOL! But I acted surprised.
We showered, I called for a 6 AM wake-up, and we went to sleep, after talking about our day for an hour! No pool tonight, we were so tired! Tomorrow was EMH at Epcot, and Chad's Segway tour, and the meet with Airhead and Nate!
Cuddled up and dreamed Disney dreams.
We got our 6:30 AM wake-up call, and I put it on speaker so everyone could hear Mickey tell us it's time to start our day. My mom thought it was a live person speaking, and she said "thank you, Mickey", but the kids told her it was a recording. I told them not to spoil the magic for gramma, she's like a 60 y.o. child, and bless her heart, she enjoys every minute of it.
We planned to be at Magic Kingdom at the 9 AM opening to see the opening show, which we'd never seen before. But by the time we got out of bed, showered, and dressed, I knew we weren't going to make it. Mom and Jesse went down to get her a cup of coffee, and she ended up buying us all re-fillable cups. Chad and I met them at the Mara, and since I was the only one carrying a backpack and I didn't want to carry 4 cups, I made the mistake of asking Chad to run them back to the room. By the time he got down to the bus stop where we were waiting, the bus left, and I knew it was the last bus that would get us to the MK opening on time. But so what, I'm in Disney World!!
The next bus came in less than 15 minutes, and in 20 minutes, we were at MK.
I was surprised that the security people really looked into the backpack, poking arouind with a stick-thing. Mom had a little fanny-pack on, and they asked her to open it. It was fine, I didn't mind at all, just surprised. When we were there 2 years ago, security just glanced in the packs and let us through.
We walked in and enjoyed Main Street. My kids are like me, taking it all in, every scent and sight, sitting on every bench and going into every store. I knew we were wasting precious Fast Pass time, but this meandering down Main Street was so special, it just couldn't be rushed. I was dying to get a balloon, but I knew balloons weren't allowed in AKL, so I planned on getting one later when we moved over to the Contemporary.
For breakfast we had fudge and huge chocolate chip cookies from the confectioners store. Hey, it's vacation!
When we saw the castle, I said, "look, ma," and she was awestruck. "It's really real," she said. Chad and Jesse laughed
We made our way to Tomorrowland, and got fast passes for Space Mountain. At 10 AM, our return time was 11:00-12:00. We walked on Buzz Lightyear and had a blast (get it?...blast?...LOL!)We could have walked right on again, but went to the Tomorrowland People Mover Wedway, what's it called now? It was a nice ride, giving mom a chance to see so much of MK from above. She doesn't do most rides, so this was a treat for her. This was also special for me and Jesse, because we rode this many times in a row on an E-night in 2002 when DH and Chad did the big rides. It's a warm memory for the two of us.
There weren't many people in the park on this Tuesday morning. We went on Carousel of Progress, and we all loved it. It was time for Space Mountain. Mom found a shady area by the restrooms to wait for us. After, Chad took her fast pass and went on again while we looked around the gift shop. We spent $12 in freeze-dried astronaut ice cream!
Lunch was at Cosmic Ray's, and we watched the corny Sonny Eclipse while we ate chicken sandwiches and fries for a total of $23 and change. We spent a long time there, enjoying the airconditioning. We knew we'd be back to MK, so we decided to head back to AKL for a rest, since we had a 6 PM for Mama Melrose Fantasmic Dinner Package. By then, it was around 1:30.
On the way out, we saw the talking trash can! We'd never seen this before, and it was a hoot! The thing moved around and commented on what we were wearing, and other silly fun things. My mom asked it what would happen if she put trash in it, and it heard her. It made fun of the way she said "trash", and said Where are YOU from, Brooklyn?" Yes! It was hard to leave especially when Jesse got into it, trying to find trash to put into it.
When we passed the Stitch thing being built, we did hear Stitch laughing inside. Disney is so creative.
We bused back to AKL, flopped on the beds, and snoozed. AKL is so beautiful, and I hoped for some free time to sit in the lobby and lounge areas just to be in the soothing atmosphere.
Up at 4, and the kids went down with our mugs for lemonade. We hung out on the balcony taking pics, and then put on fresh clothes. Off to MGM.
The bus was right there when we got down. We always took the shortcut through Zawadi shop. 15 minutes later, we were there. We knew mama Melrose was on the other side of MGM, so strolled in that direction. There was no time to rides, but Chad ran and there were still FPs available for 8 pm for Rockin Rollercoaster. We took pics with Alice, Cruella, Maleficent, Gepetto, and the green army men from Buzz.
We got to Mama Melrose at 5:50, and they seated us right away. It was a nice atmosphere. Many walk-ins were waiting for tables. For the package, we had a specific menu from which to order. Appetizer, salad, entre, and dessert. We has the caesar salad, cheese flat bread, steak, fish, and veal. The steak tasted like it had been marinated in wine for days, it was so strong! Just by the smell of it I was tipsy! We were stuffed, and when the desserts came, spumoti, gelato, tiramisu, and cheesecake, we were ready to sit back and not even get up and go to Fantasmic. Everything tasted so good, and the service was fine. I must say that this place has great tasting water, twice-filtered, the CM said. The bill came to more than $80. We were given a voucher for Fantasmic and told where the special entrance was.
We went over to Rockin Rollercoaster, and went on even though we were taking a chance with our full stomachs. Mom waited in the gift shop. The ride was fun. There wasn't enough time to use mom's FP, so Chad gave it to a teenage kid, who appreciated it very much.
We got to the "secret" entrance to Fantasmic. There were people there without vouchers trying to get in. The CM was having a hard time, but she opened the gate just enough for the 4 of us to get in. It was a long walk up a hill to the seats, but when we got there, 15 minutes before the show, we were so grateful we had the vouchers. It was packed, with more people coming in by the second. We sat on the right side, third row. The "wave" had begun, so we got into that. Then Fantasmic. It was fantastic, awesome, exciting. The side seats were fine, no problem seeing anything. FDP was so worth it for us.
After, we went out the back way, and it took so much less time than it would have if we were in regular seating. We bought some bottled water for $5 for 2 bottles and headed out of MGM. We'd hardly done any rides, but we had the week ahead of us.
Bus back to AKL was there waiting. We always had a seat. We didn't get any funny drivers yet, but knew we would, eventually.
Back to AKL and the long walk to our room. We took our time and said hello to people who we passed along the way. When we got in, we were turned down again. And there were T-shirst with DISNEY on them laid out on the beds! Everyone was thrilled, except me because I was the sneaky one arranging all this LOL! But I acted surprised.
We showered, I called for a 6 AM wake-up, and we went to sleep, after talking about our day for an hour! No pool tonight, we were so tired! Tomorrow was EMH at Epcot, and Chad's Segway tour, and the meet with Airhead and Nate!
Cuddled up and dreamed Disney dreams.
